Eclipse Knights
The Eclipse Knights are an imperfectly codex compliant Space Marine chapter. The few whom have witnessed the chapter have spoken tales of thoroughly mysterious, honor-driven bands of five to ten marines, or even lone warriors, stalking battlefields with a deathly grace and utmost concentration on the task at hand. Legend tells of a tragedy that once fell upon the Knights. Fragments of the tale remain scatted across computer memory banks too easily overlooked to be wiped. A deep space boarding accident. Genestealers of an unknown number. Little but bolt pistols and tactical knives on hand to oppose the onslaught. A cargo bay full of all the necessary weaponry having long drifted out of boarding range, presumedly the result of the tenacity of their Genestealer invaders. Following these fragmented days, the chapter's size has without a shadow of a doubt shrunk to a mere 500 marines, perhaps in memory of another five hundred having needlessly lost their lives to tyranid claws. Little escapes the whispered words of the battle brothers to be properly analyzed by observers, but for all intents and purposes, it seems they are working for a day where their debts to the lost is repaid, and their self imposed hindrance will finally be lifted from their adamantum shoulders. But it is more than simple failure that plagues the brothers of this chapter. Since this great failure, the Knight's reputation has been blackened. They are all now outcasts, weaklings, shameful examples of Space Marines that simply should have withered and died with the rest of their lost brothers in zero gravity. History (will be written soon!) Known Characters Amongst those who survived the slaughter of the past, the Eclipse Knights feature a very specialized and rather characterized collection of veteran battle brothers. Loyal *Alvuus Corinthian - Chapter Master *Rutherus Doric - Chief Librarian Unconfirmed *The "Faithless" - a name given to at least twelve once loyal brothers who through unknown circumstances had deserted the chapter. Many hopeful brothers, especially newer members still with a strong belief in the complete and utter rarity of a Space Marine's loss of faith in the Emperor, simply claim they have been lost or even killed in action without accurate recording to confirm anything. Other members, with strong emphasis on the oldest Veterans of the Knights, hold too deep a grudge against these deserters to ever consider the possiblilty of an honest tactical disaster or honorable death in action, considering their newfound belief in the chapter now being free from error since the great failure that halved their numbers. These veterans, and those they have persuaded, claim that the Faithless were all but too weak to face the prospect of never failing again, too weak to shoulder the responsibilities of a full strength chapter with only 500, or even that the powers and promised spoils of chaos proved too tempting when put up against the shame-ridden, outcast, seemingly impossible life of an Eclipse Knight. Relations With Other Forces The Knight's encounters with other Imperial forces is greatly down to luck and circumstances, and is, if not something to deliberately avoid, something they take great precaution on controlling and mediating as much as they can possibly do to prevent poor results. To some, their lack of honor is something that chains them down, such as contact with other Space Marine chapters and other highly-regarded Imperial forces that hold the ideals of honor and orthodoxy closely. But to others, especially lowly Imperial Guard regiments or planetary defense forces on ill-equipped worlds, both of which are often unaware of their reputation or faced with too great of a danger to ever deny their aid, their precense has been nothing short of a godsend. *Iron Scorpions - due to the great size of the Imperium, the Eclipse Knights were rather fortunate (or perhaps unfortunate knowing the reputations of both sides) to have short contact with the Scorpions. In the event, the Scorpions were quick to deny them any real respect, criticising their tactics if they weren't ignoring them completely. The harsh relations between the two boiled down to almost failing the engagment by the skin of their teeth, victorious only because of the Scorpion's refusal to be beaten down, and whatever aid the Knights managed to give. *10th Suniure Regiment - During a search and destroy mission on the hive world of Dark Star IX, the Eclipse Knights managed to ally with a drafted regiment of Astra Militarum sent into the fray as nothing but cannon fodder. Although the marines were tasked with the destruction of a chaos artefact, the guard were given the unpleasant task of being mere human sheilds against the endless waves of chaos corrupted PDF soldiers, driven maniacal by the artefact's dark, maliciously tempting aura. Standing against the odds that their small numbers threw them into, the Knights showed a remarkable capacity to aid their Imperial brothers in arms, especially when in any other case they were simply too quickly outnumbered. Since the event, this particular guard regiment has held the Space Marines of the chapter in a shaky, but fond memory, respecting them to a degree even greater than what is shown to marines of any other chapter that so happen to aid them. Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:10th Founding Category:Raven Guard Successors